JD/PhD program

The Stanford Law School and the Department of Sociology are both ranked #1. If you are interested in sociolegal scholarship, you can’t do better than the best in both.

Upon admission, students may begin study in either the Law School or the Department of Sociology. For information please contact Sociology's Student Services Manager Natasha Newson.

Students must complete their first full year of graduate study in one program and their second full year in the other. Thereafter, students may divide their time between programs to suit their individual course of research and graduate training.

Requirements

Students must satisfy the requirements for both the JD and the PhD degrees.

Units per degree

Up to 54 quarter units of approved coursework may be counted towards both degrees, but no more than 31 quarter units of courses that originate outside the Law School may count towards the law degree.

Total units

Students must complete the equivalent of 183 quarter units to complete both degrees.

Additional program exclusion

Students participating in the joint degree program are not eligible to transfer and receive credit for a master's or another degree towards the PhD

Conferral

The law degree may be conferred upon completion of applicable Law School requirements; it is not necessary to have both degrees conferred simultaneously.

These provisions dramatically reduce requirements, increase flexibility, and make Stanford's a true joint degree program.

Additional Requirements

In addition to coursework, students must complete additional requirements for each program.

Sociology: Complete the Department of Sociology PhD requirements, including at least three quarters of Teaching Assistantship, three quarters of Research Assistantship, and successful completion of a doctoral dissertation.
Law: For additional requirements for the JD degree, see the Stanford Law School website.

Funding

Students who are accepted into the JD/PhD program will typically pay for only two semesters of Law School tuition – a savings of approximately $50,000 (compared, for example, to programs at other top-ranked law schools that require students to pay for five semesters of law school tuition), and will receive nearly a full year of credit toward the law degree from approved sociology coursework.

Through a combination of fellowships, research, and teaching assistantships, the Department of Sociology currently provides full tuition, stipends, and funds to support research for six academic years of graduate-level study in sociology to each student admitted to the PhD program.

Thus, students admitted to the joint program will generally pay no tuition beyond the first year of law school, and will receive a stipend for six additional years of study in the Law School and the Department of Sociology.